Beyond geometric constraint: dynamic fluid-lattice-activated topochemical polymerization
Bin Mu, Xiao Luo, Juanjuan Wei, Linqi Yang, Huanjun Lu, Wei Tian · 2026
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Description
Bin Mu and colleagues report in 2026 a new way to build polymers inside ordered molecular assemblies without needing perfect starting alignment. In classic topochemical polymerisation, building blocks must sit in a crystal at exactly the right distance and angle before linking, a fragile requirement that limits the method. Their design uses fluid columnar liquid crystals with a core-shell layout, where rapid molecular motion lets reactive sites meet briefly and react.
Despite imperfect starting order, conversion of building blocks into polymer ran nearly to completion, and the column shape steered growth into tidy helical chains. Warming could undo the chains and regenerate the starting material completely, a reversible trait they demonstrated in a skin-worn film that hid and revealed fluorescent information near body temperature. The work widens design options for recyclable polymers and wearable devices.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Bin Mu, Xiao Luo, Juanjuan Wei, Linqi Yang, Huanjun Lu, Wei Tian |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 33320 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |